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VIAAC real life implementations
To demonstrate the principles and the feasibility it is important to provide evidence from real life implementations. These may not allways be fully compliant with every theoretical guideline in this wiki but we seek to find examples of similar networks and co-ops that clearly demonstrate what can be done, what issues can arise and how the theoretical framework adjust to reality and local conditions. Some Example IAACs (Not-Socially Networked across the full VIAAC spectrum): Food-Based KBHFF. Features comparison to the theoretical VIACC framework. KBHFF (Denmark) * 'Zero waste.' KBHFF delivers 5 tons of organic food/week directly to members. You order a bag 1 week before but a small number of provisional bags are sold so there is rarely anything left. Only then is it given away for free providing good PR. Only possible waste would be if members are not consuming all their food in time. Compared to the horrendous 30% to 50% waste of old style supermarkets this is optimal. * 'Bulk Buying power.' Indeed there are multiple advantages. Voluntary work in sorting, packing and distribution, advantageous contracts with suppliers and direct supply without middle men lowers the cost to less than half even though the product is better and cleaner. It is allways organic food so the yields of production is lower. The bulk buying power is also used to support organic farmers who would otherwise not be able to compete. * 'Sustainability Margins.' The surplus gained is kept small because the produce is delivered at just above cost price. The surplus is the property of all members and is used to kick start new initiatives. One such initiative has been the purchase of a few hectares of farmland to be used by the community. * 'Unautomated Networked Distribution Hubs.' The produce is delivered to a central store and repackaged for transport to 11 hubs. This transport is paid for and provided commercially by a transport company but the repackaging is by volunteers. There is only a weekly distrubution cycle because currently it is based on food and not rarely needed items like shoes and telescopes. * 'Community Service Network.' There is no VIAACSN in KBHFF. It is to be considered beyond the scope of KBHFF to provide that. But we have a working group for new ideas and any new interaction with the same people or some of them, motivated, under another name could easily spawn from KBHFF. KBHFF itself has been cloned to now 10 other networks around other major cities in Denmark. Park Slope (Brooklyn, New York City) Park Slope Food Coop The Potato Movement (Greece) The Potato Movement (Greece) Transport-Based Autolib Electric Car-Sharing (France) Autolib - Electric Car-Sharing (France) This is an interesting example because it may contain a hint about how to address one of the early problems facing a large-scale VIAAC that distributes a wide range of goods and services. Transportation cost is a major issue, even when most or all distribution is local. The Autolib model unfortunately relies on very high startup capital requirements, for vehicles and energy supply. However, the subsciption based business model may be applicable to smaller systems with as little as a single vehicle and fueling point. The transportation problem seems to point toward energy production and distribution as being a crucial enabling factor in a VIAAC. In current economic practice it is common for the supply of electricity to be managed by cooperative structures. This may serve as an economic gateway to early VIAAC implementation and growth. Open Source Movement Hackerspaces (Global) Hackerspaces (Global)